A tiny prairie town in Big D
What a perfectly gorgeous day this past Saturday, April 29th as we all arrived at the Old Frankford Church for our in-town tour of the Church, Cemetery and surrounding Blackland Prairie. Matt Weinstein of Preservation Dallas, our host for the event, welcomed everyone and then handed it over to Kathy Wells Power of the Frankford Preservation Foundation for a little background history on the Church.
Aside from marveling at the magnificent remodeling of the interior, with it’s original pews and organ, one of the more interesting features she mentioned was that the entire structure rests on original Bois d’Arc stumps used as leveling stilts. Ms. Power explained that the adjoining Indian Creek springs and the wagon yard Elm Tree made for a refreshing stop and watering hole for those early pioneers coming down the Shawnee cattle trail.
After a quick round of Q&A, we then travelled down a path towards the Indian Creek springs and wagon yard on the nearly 12 acre site. Once under the canopy of shady trees with the sound of trickling water from the springs, it’s no wonder so many pioneers found this place so appealing. The prairie grass that surrounded us on the stroll to the spring was splendid; you could almost hear the clip-clop of horses pulling a covered wagon into the wagon yard.
Next, we split into 2 groups: One group continued with Ms. Power to the old cemetery, and the other group followed Master Naturalist Rich Jaynes into the prairie for a quick education on all the native grasses and flowers in these fields of unplowed, native prairie grass.
“Pioneers called the native big bluestem grass ‘turkey grass’. This type of grass is one of the “Big Four” grasses of the Blackland Prairie that can grow up to eight feet tall” Jaynes explained. “It’s very unusual to find this in an otherwise urban site.” In the Spring, large blue and purple blooms can be seen throughout the prairie. The summer months present more of a traditional grassland appearance.
Meanwhile, over in one of the oldest cemeteries in the area, Ms. Power was relating details about the McKamy Family, prominent founders of the town, with Mr. McKamy’s mother being one of the earliest interments.
The group also learned about the Coit family (very interesting!) and also Addison W. Robertson, whom the town of Addison was named after. The cemetery was not only well manicured, but the trees and the breeze offered up a cool climate as the afternoon warmed up. The two groups swapped guests so that everyone in attendance was able to tour both the Grasslands and the Cemetery.
A huge thanks to Matt Weinstein and Palmer Bradshaw of Preservation Dallas for keeping things running smoothly, and also to Kathy Power and Rich Jaynes for sharing their wealth of knowledge that allowed us to see more clearly how our Pioneer ancestors once lived.
